Come...join me on a journey to wherever the Spirit leads! :)

Kathy, meet Jesse Cook :)

This is for my blog friend, Kathy. I just read her post Classic Rules, in which she mentions having a Spanish guitar, and decided I must introduce her to the wonder of one of my favourite musicians in the world: Jesse Cook.

I encountered Jesse Cook's music maybe ten years ago. Dave came home with a couple of his CDs one day, borrowed from a coworker. The coworker had been playing them and Dave immediately thought that I would like the music. He knows me well, my hubby does! I loved the dynamics, the amazing rhythms of this guitar and accompanying percussion. Dave and I have seen since Jesse (as if I'm on a first name basis, eh?! lol) live at the Rebecca Cohn auditorium in Halifax and I am just blown away by his talent. Seems like his fingers should go up in smoke, they are flying so fast over the guitar strings sometimes. His music fills and expands my soul, I get breathless with joy and awe and astonishment listening to the oh so alive classical/rumba/flamenco sound!! His CDs are a staple in my kitchen, excellent cooking tunes!

[Edited to add: Just found out his upcoming tour includes a performance in Halifax on April 12, 2010 (tickets to that show would make a most excellent Christmas or birthday present ;) ... just saying ...]

Here is a sampling of his music (yay for youtube!):

And this final video is the first of Jesse Cook's songs that I fell in love with, and one of the few of his that has vocals.:

Hi Anne, very cool! Thank you so much for writing this great post and introducing Jesse Cook's music! I love his music and will definitely be downloading his CD's from i-tunes. He's so talented (and as Annie said, cute too) and I just love his sound. The precussion is very cool!

I enjoyed listening to all the songs that you selected. I read that as a teenager he had the opportunity to jam with the Gypsie Kings while visiting his dad in the South of France. Very cool!

Thank you so much Anne for sharing his beautiful music. Have a great evening!

Sandra, cool that you are a fan too! If you haven't seen him in person, you should go see him if he comes to Ottawa. I'm not a big concert goer at all, but his live performances are wicked!

Kathy - yay, I thought you'd love him. I've heard him described as having "smouldering onstage charisma", so true! He has a new album coming out later this month, I can't wait! Thanks for the song title, I have an Enya CD, must check if that song is on it, I love it.

Leslie - ah, so exciting! Have a fantastic trip and can't wait to see your photo creations when you get back!!

Kathy - I noticed that he has several California concert dates in October if you want to check him out live. Awesome experience!!! (I just added his website link to my entry...with a hint to my beloved about getting me tickets for the Halifax show! lol)

Thanks Marta, I'm so glad you mentioned Ottmar Leibert. I was not familiar with his music, but just listened to a couple pieces on youtube and he's fantastic!! You're right, there is a similarity between his sound and Jesse Cook's.